Trespasses: Portrait of a Serial Rapist

by Howard Swindle

Chronicles the career of rapist Gilbert Escobedo, known as the Ski Mask Rapist, who assaulted as many as one hundred women between 1985 and 1990, based on interviews with the criminal himself and his victims

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Psychology, Crime

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Clinton Howard Swindle was editor of North Texas' student newspaper, the Campus Chat, in 1968 before being named Outstanding Journalism Graduate. After serving in the Navy during the Vietnam War, he worked for the Fort Worth Press and the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, which led to a position with the Dallas Times Herald.

In 1979 he joined the Dallas Morning News, where he worked as a reporter, assistant metropolitan editor and assistant managing editor for projects before becoming a writer-at-large. In 1986, the News won its first Pulitzer Prize for a project that Swindle edited. Projects led by Swindle would later win two other Pulitzers for the paper.

Swindle was the author of several books, including Once a Hero; Doin' Dirty; America's Condemned: Death Row Inmates in Their Own Words; Trespasses: Portrait of a Serial Rapist; and Deliberate Indifference: A Study of Racial Injustice and Murder. Universal Pictures' Eye See You, released in 2002, was based on his novel Jitter Joint.

Reviews

[Erika Nerdypants]

Excellent true crime reporting on the cases of Texas sex-offender Gilbert Escobedo, dubbed the “Ski-mask” rapist. I found this in one of the free book boxes around our town, and was ambivalent at first. Books about rape written by man are always a little suspect for me. While the author made me uncomfortable with some thinly disguised male privilege in the foreword, the rest of the book is surprisingly free of it. Some sections were hard to read, and I questioned the inclusion of one particular woman’s story who was adamant that she wanted nothing to do with this book. For this reason, although very well written, I have to leave it at no rating and can’t really recommend it.

[Pyol Starrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I pursued a degree in psychology specifically to work with sexual assault and rape survivors. This is one of the first books of this type I came across when I was early on in my search. When I came across this book it opened my eyes to the importance of understanding and working with the perpetrators as well.
This text gives a very interesting view of both the survivors and the perpetrator. The manner in which a perpetrator thinks and further outlining the extent to which it is not the survivors fault.
I would say that this text is a helpful to any professional seeking to work with survivors, perpetrators, or criminology.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the Ski Mask Rapist, Gilbert Escobedo, who was active in the 1980's in the state of Texas. Howard Swindle did a fair amount of research and presented the facts of the case in a manner that was engaging and easy to follow. Escobedo was involved in plenty of crimes as a young person, and gradually kept up with a series of them. This book examines his life as well as his mindset. It is really interesting to try to figure out what motivates people to commit something like 100 rapes. It is especially interesting to me to note that he was fairly successful in business and in his long term relationships, yet managed to be this terrible person. Just vile.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is interesting, well-written, and does a good job of opening our eyes to how vulnerable we are. A little too good perhaps. It left me overly paranoid and it took a while for me to shake off the creeped-outness this book put in my head.

[Danette · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best true-crime books I've read. Disturbing in detail, but an interesting look at all sides of the crime - from the man to his family to his victims.